Yalu is a six week old puppy selected for a family who wants a Golden Retriever. Not only is she’s cute, fury, and brown, but has all the confidence she needs to be successful. The problem is that the family doesn’t select her, the only candidate sent in for the interview. Now she’s the dog nobody wants. Based on a true story, Yalu discovers how to stand out from the other dogs in her kennel and finds a forever home where she will become a family’s special princess.

Review:

Awww, this is a very cute chapter book that animals lovers are sure to enjoy. Yalu is a puppy, and all she wants is a forever home, where she will be treated like the princess she is. When all of her puppy tricks to captivate and enchant prospective owners fail to yield results, she is dejected. Persistence pays off, though, and soon Yalu has a family of her own!

Yalu and the Puppy Room is packed with colorful, endearing illustrations that supplement the text. As Yalu is rejected time and again, readers will begin to empathize with the little puppy. Why isn’t she ever good enough to be chosen over all of the other puppies? She is so cute! She has the pathetic, love me puppy-dog eyes down pat. Yet time and again, other puppies are picked over Yalu. There is a wonderful sense of suspense that builds to the end, because you start stressing with Yalu. I’d have picked her!

This book is based on the author’s own experiences, which made the read even better for me. The story is lovingly related, as a young couple comes to Yalu’s kennel and don’t find the new family member they are looking for, until, finally, Yalu is brought to the puppy room to strut her stuff. If you have a young reader on your Christmas shopping list, I think that this book would made a great present.

Happy Saturday! Thanks to Little Brown, I have THREE sets of the cutest board books to giveaway! I SAY, YOU SAY OPPOSITES! and I SAY, YOU SAY ANIMAL SOUNDS! by artist Tad Carpenter, released on September 11th, and now you have a chance to win a set!

From the publisher:

I SAY, YOU SAY OPPOSITES! and I SAY, YOU SAY ANIMAL SOUNDS! are interactive and endlessly entertaining lift-the-flap board books that emphasize "word prediction," an important language development step for young readers. As parent readers call out the animal on each page, the child reader is encouraged to triumphantly respond with the correct answer, hidden beneath the flap. Fun and educational, this call-and-response technique offers a playful interactive reading experience and is a delightful and exciting way for children to learn words.

With a bright, retro-style palette and round-eyed animals, the I SAY, YOU SAY board book series is perfect for today’s hip babies and parents.

Tad Carpenter is an illustrator and designer living in Kansas City, Missouri, and an adjunct professor in graphic design and illustration at the University of Kansas. You can visit him at www.tadcarpenter.com.

I SAY, YOU SAY OPPOSITES!

So cute!!

I SAY, YOU SAY ANIMAL SOUNDS!

So adorable!

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